Part 1

Name: Charlotte Jacobs
Nationality: Belgian
Occupation: Composer, vocalist, performer
Recent release: Charlotte Jacobs's atlas is out via New Amsterdam.
Recommendations: The album Green by Hiroshi Yoshimura. This record is a piece of music that I reach to many times a week. It is so humble, honest and egoless. It has the power to cleanse my head and creates space for other things.
The sound of the record is so specific and the music doesn't try to be anything else than what it is. The melodies are very simple and the textures are very much the same throughout the record. The music almost teaches you how to breathe in a way, and just be. I love to listen to this piece of music, when I am on the train or in the morning to let the day wake up in my mind.

Another recommendation is the Belgian underground label Stroom. Their catalogue is impressive and it holds beautiful records beautifully curated. They used to only do re-issues of older records, but recently they have been releasing new music as well. I discovered Sophie Birch through them, with the album Repair Techniques. One of my favourite albums at the moment. Stroom also has a couple of playlists on Spotify which I regularly listen to.

If you enjoyed this Charlotte Jacobs interview and would like to stay up to date with her work and music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects, and colors. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I believe experiencing music is indeed a bodily experience. I practiced contemporary dance until I was about 28, and it's still an important part of how I experience music—allowing the body to move with what you hear and feel.

When I sit in the studio to listen through mixes, I definitely close my eyes to eliminate visual stimuli and focus on the sound. This often evokes other images. As a vocalist, I can't help but listen closely to lyrics, and those images definitely come to mind while listening.

An interesting thing that happens when I dance to music is that my mind feels empty and free. It’s like the body becomes an extension of hearing, replacing visualization with movement.

Entering or creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are most drawn to when it comes to listening to and creating music?

I think it’s the idea of moving the mind elsewhere, where you can create and enter a new world, completely shaped the way you want it to be. I like the concept of escapism, but it can also confront you with reality.

For me, I try to create a world where I feel most comfortable—but it can make others feel uneasy and may even be a challenge for some. Music can bring chaos, structure, solace, grief, and happiness all in one place, and yet it remains a very personal experience for the listener. This is what I hope my music does—that it’s open enough to reflect each listener’s own story and feelings.

I’m also drawn to storytelling, which I find very powerful. It’s something we do to cope with life and its grievances.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age, and what has changed since then?

That’s an interesting age, especially for girls, because a lot of things change in a very short time, and it’s really tricky to navigate all the emotions and dynamics that arise during that period.

At that age, I was focused on dancing and discovering new music through that. I think I was 16 when I discovered Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and Rosas, and through them, the music of Steve Reich, Bach, and Belgian composers. I learned how patterns in dance were reflected in music, how a motif could evolve, and what a canon was—all through dance.

Dance provided a space to process all the emotions and experiences of being that age. I was really into classical music because of ballet, and I started taking voice lessons when I was 12. When I didn't get into the contemporary dance school in Antwerp, I shifted my focus to music and started learning swing and jazz. I sang in a lot of local bands and projects and performed constantly.

What has changed since then is that I’ve developed my own musical identity, which I didn’t have at 16. But the dancer in me is still there, and I work with dancers for my own projects and write music for their work, which I love.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) and why you're content with them.

I always wrote songs from the age of 16, but I never dared to share them. It was only during my time at the conservatory that I began to share my work in a songwriting class.

One of the first songs I wrote in Dutch, is still something I’m proud of. It was my first attempt at writing in my mother tongue (before that, I wrote exclusively in English), and it showed me how beautiful my own language is and how it evokes different images and compositional tools than English.

That song led to a collaboration with some college friends, and I started writing for the band Seiren. Our first and only EP, Architekt, remains close to my heart because it was the first time I released my music to the world. The song “Architekt” was my attempt to combine Dutch lyrics, jazz chords, and pop music in an electronic setting.

It was a novel approach at the time (about 10 years ago), and I’m still pleased with how it turned out. Those songs are still on Spotify if you want to check them out.

What is your current studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

It’s a room in my apartment in NYC. I’m very fortunate to live in a spacious apartment in Brooklyn with my partner. The room is at the back of the building with a lot of light and views of trees and backyards. I think living in NYC, it's easy to underestimate how important it is to connect with nature. It’s essential for me to feel at ease in my space, so I like having things organized. I have a hard time creating in a disorganized space.

I usually have a couple of pedals out, my synths, Ableton open, and a mic. Recording is part of my creative process; I just love it. I could spend hours recording and processing sounds without actually making a piece of music. That experimental phase is so fun.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

Some of the earliest sketches date back to the first wave of the 2020 pandemic. I struggled to be productive initially because the world felt so different. But eventually, I found my way back into music, pouring thoughts, experiences, and feelings into sketches. I started writing a lot of lyrics in Dutch without thinking about how they would sound, just filling notebooks with texts.

Months later, I revisited these texts and began creating the sonic world around them. I work in Ableton, which I love because it’s so playful. You can really experiment and create things. I recorded some of the tracks in my apartment in Brooklyn and at my mom’s house in Belgium.

When I sat down with producer and friend Zubin, he didn’t want to change much. He was the perfect soundboard, giving me suggestions on what parts felt complete and which needed more time and attention. Once we had the demos and pre-productions down, we re-recorded some of the vocals using his Josephson mic and preamps, creating a blend of lo-fi bedroom recordings and hi-fi studio recordings.

I played most of the instruments (all synths) and invited a few guest musicians to add textures and improvised parts.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

I think rituals can help generate material in my artistic practice. They don’t have to be artistic rituals. Even small daily habits can free up space to create.
I’m a strong believer in writing morning pages—just random thoughts and whatever comes to mind until three pages are full. It’s like a decluttering process for the mind, allowing other ideas to emerge.

Meditation is also a significant ritual for me. It helps me settle down after busy or intense days. I don’t use guided meditations or music; I just sit and try to be. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s amazing how beneficial just sitting can be.

As a listener, I have fewer rituals. I love listening to music when I’m on the train or traveling. But I also need total quiet. I find it hard to concentrate when there’s music in the background because it distracts me from conversations or tasks.

I prefer to listen intentionally, so if I’m doing something else, I’ll put on ambient music or nothing at all.